Mil Wants To Visit; Need Practicle Help

[bina]

ok,

my husband's mother has indicated an interest in visiting us sometime in the future, when we have the money to pay for a ticket; so these raises several questions: these are total bannork people that are clueless so we have to figure everything out...

1. how and where does she do her passport and cost for one

2. i will need to get insurance for her cause if she is ill we dont have the money to pay (here medical is a social welfare service unless u are foreign travelers)

3. anybody have a clue as to visa visitor type to israel for thai people not foreign labourers? yes i can ask the embassy but like to gather info before i start to make long distance calls ...

4. is it cheaper to buy tickets from here or there for roundtrip to israel?? i dont even know how to find cheap tickets for her that dont involve transfering (she's a little old lady who only speaks korat dialect thai, what if she gets lost or something, or worse, someone trys to pull one over on her... its like sending a 13 yr old alone on a plane)

5. what other expenses are there when flying out and back besides the ticket? taxes, etc.

i dont know of anyone here just on a visit; they are either on marriage visas or foreign workers, or guided tours of christian missionaries (which she will actually try to contact since they were at my kibbutz last year and there is someone from the amphur in the group)

mostly hoping it is too complicated so that we will just go to thailand next year cause the thought of entertaining a little old lady here is not a fun one-- she is a nice woman but she was unable to travel to korat w/o forgetting to put on flipflops so the thought of having her here in our dinky kibbutz apartment with two dogs et al : what will she do all day??? anon will be working 12+ hours a day 6 days a week, as do i ...thai food there is, but she couldnt even think of coming to bangkok to meet us when we flew in last year, it was too far and frightening, so israel??

if she comes with a group, then there is a thai guide that takes care of everything... other wise, good grief!!!!

besides the fact that i was hoping to save money for us to go to thailand and check out land/small house and to give me more chances to see other facets of muubaan life, and prepare for distant future.... arggghh!!!!

my own folks visits are usually self paid, and they are self entertaining when the grandkids arent around (all teenager + age)and they pay their own way here also...

probably not really relevant but just anticipating complications; everything was just going too smoothly recently......

bina and anon

israel

[Boo]

Bina the only advice I can give is to tell her it isn't possible. Sorry but that is what huby has done with his family as it is 1) too expensive 2) too much hassle & 3) like your mil, mine is not capable of travelling alone or long distances. She made some noises about it & hubby jus said no. I suggest anon does the same. As you have said, you don't have the money & even if you did, in your situation would be better set by putting it in the bank for future. I am sure your mil knows your situtation financially & may just be playing around with fantasy & she may not even want you to progress it?

Sorry I can't be of more help but this is a path we have just recently dealt with.

[bina]

well i was hoping to say oh what a great idea here's what u have to do, and then have it be too complicated...

checked the israeli embassy site (new improved, thai eng and hebrew with great info in all three languages if anyone wants info on israeli history ect in thai blurbs btw) and the list for tourist visa gave things like:

6 months of bank account entries (dont have)

letter from employer (rice fields?)etc etc

i dont think we have reciprocal 30 day tourist stamp on arrival for thai people to here; 99 % are foreign workers.

....anon got the picture quickly so the only viable route would be that christian missionary group so hoping that it is super expensive and not do able either...

so hoping that it seems overly complex and not do-able...

but just to add to the complications i wanted prices and insurance info along with the visa info ...

) thanx boo...

bina

[GuestHouse]

I'd find out how long she's planning to stay before you help here find here way over.

I've a friend in the UK who's Thai MIL came on a three month visit the first time and now turns up once a year for six months at at time.

[Mossfinn]

Bina,

Without knowing the system in Israel, I would suggest she will need to show evidence of the following:

Proof of Income

Ability to Finance Visit/or

Sponsor ability to Finance Visit

Reason to return

Purpose of Visit ( Not quite sure of hubbies standing )

That is just part of the practical side: I wonder is it worth the hassle, money and inconvenience, considering the content of your above posts.

Good Luck

Moss

[bina]

yeah pretty sure that its not do-able on its own but maybe thru that missionary group, they had said that they didnt care if people joined that werent christian and since i had hosted them here, who knows, they may actually help !

some how i dont think she would come (if she did really come to visit) for more then a few weeks, we dont have small children for her to look after; no other thai speakers available, and while we are agricultural, it is still in the middle of a suburban type area, so dont think she really would enjoy being here for long... she is up at 4 a.m. and asleep at dark, the winter here is harsh compared to thailand, even korat in winter, and sending her sightseeing on her own would be impossible ...

i am not salaried (kibbutznik) so cant sponsor her (anon isnt a member so only 50% help on anything financial for us as a couple), she has her husband at home as collateral!! for reason to return as he for sure wouldnt come.. he goes off for days, barefoot with a machete to hunt for wild pigs so dont think flying in an airplane is on his list of must do things... and we of course would be paying for the ticket...

like i thought/hoped, it may just be too complicated and expensive and hassle as boo points out. also, as u pointed out moss, not sure if she could get a tourist visa based on visiting her son who is a foreign worker/about to get semi permanent residency for a year visa.

its just very hard to explain to an uneducated thai that bureaucracy rules the world and there is no real 'freedom' to come and go as one pleases anywhere in the world and most entities do not care if it is because of love, marriage, or family ties. if u dont fit the bill, u dont get in. period.

oh. a good mother in law deterrant is to have two boxer dogs living in the small apartment and allowing them to sleep on the sofa and watch tv with the family. it works a charm. especially if in the summer in the non a/c apartment the one boxer is a slobbery slurpy sort of boxer. and they both fart. its the best MIL preventative there is. it worked with my ex's mother (whom i really like, just not in my house. and it worked on my mom whom i love of course but can only take so much of her and my nudnik dad in my very small aprtment also. so this year we had the boxer bitch still around and foofoo the new lhasa who bit my mother in her butt. but i digress.)

i'm sure that the 'come to visit jerusalem' idea will fizzle on its own but just arming myself ...

) bina

[TonyLeung]

so you are a female Israelite married to a Thai male? That is a cool and interesting combination. In wonder how many total marriages there are of that combination, probably less than 25??

[bina]

hi tony, i will add a side note for u Off the topic:

there are very few and many seem to have ended in divorce for various reasons including alcohol or plain incompatibility (they were young couples and the woman had no previous experience with thai people, men in particular and foreign labourer men specifically)...

i personally have spoken with three couples; there are probably more 'flings' but due to visa/worker/religious problems probably they fizzle out on their own. for the most part, thai men work in agricultural areas in 'thai' gettoes with very little contact with the surrounding people and most women are leary (rightly so for the most part) of visiting alone in the workers' areas (majority men, drink a lot!! and they see israeli women as 'HIV' sex toys when the women wear what is acceptable to us : very tight, short revealing shirts/tank tops so lots of misconceptions) and including other stereo types of thai men (eating dogs, etc); also it is a well known fact that many men here have mia nois among filipina women and many flirt with israeli girls at local pub/discos but the employers know the guys are married and warn the girls off; plus most parents here are conservative and dont look with a kind eye to intermarriage especially to someone who is so different and probably unwilling to convert. there were also two (2!) very publicized cases of rape on two different kibbutzim of thai man and israeli girl both involving alcohol and cultural misconceptions. there was one case of thai man living with 17 yr old girl pregnant by him but she was underage and family/ police broke that one up.

there are of course those that do fit the bill, but rare. in my case, divorced w/ grown kids, i went against the general stream . funnily enough, when i have found thai men married to israeli woman couples, anon was unwilling to meet up with them. oh i forgot, some of the marriages are like me: former american or russian women married to thai men, maybe cause we are used to people from other religions or cultures?

there is a couple that run a thai travel business also i've heard of here too. but yeah, not too many of us, i actually asked the visa people. mostly thai women with israeli husbands.

back to topic....

bina

[sbk]

Bina, there is no way my MIL could even get on the plane. Send her a video of a plane taking off--that might put her off!

As for insurance, travel insurance is available through BUPA and lots of other insurance companies as well--not too expensive but not even sure if Israel is covered.

As for the ticket, well most likely cheaper from here but she would be very limited in what she could take and a direct flight AFAIK, would only be El Al, about 25,000+ tax for a return ticket according to one online site.

Thank god my MIL has never even thought of the idea, but I guess it helps that we live here, not there so if she wants to see her son we are just down the road (not walking distance tho )

[lopburi3]

Passports cost about 1,000 baht.

That group travel that you speak of probably fits this visa on arrival at $80 (who said Thai visas are expensive):

Passport (must be valid at least 6 months beyond period of

intended stay) required.

Visa required.

However, if travelling in a group of 10 or more passengers

and holding prior approval from Ministry of Interior:

visa can be obtained on arrival. Fee: USD 80,- per person.

If being former national of Israel, passenger must show written

proof from Israeli Authorities abroad that Israeli nationality

has been given up.

If failing to do so, please see: For details, click here - item 3.

Visitor must hold return/onward ticket and sufficient funds.

[asiaworld]

Possibly a bit off topic, hearing, you aren't too happy to have her around, but the only possibility (althou tricky) since you ARE married couple, is to make her 'laalot' as a member of jewish family thus making the state to cover, the visa , part of travel & assimilation care .. crazy as it sounds, unless you surely don't want to see her there,this is doable option, she may join hordes of underpriviledged 'olim hadashim' & even get lots of useful education in her ripe age, her husband may come as well, it won't cost much more ..

[bina]

sbk, ROFL....

lob, how did i miss the 10 person part? i must of skipped thru really quick before i put in the thai page for anon

asia: she cant make aliya, nowadays its very hard, even the russians who are in the army as 18 yr olds w/non jewish mothers cant get their mothers here; and those that are here, lose their visa once the kid is out of uniform...

trust me, that is certainly NOT an option ) ... we were just considering a three week visit but the group missionary 'do the holyland' thing might just might be a possibility if /when we have the money, which we dont anyway...

thanx for ideas all...

even anon laughed at the idea of his mom walking barefoot onto the plane in her patung...

thinking this is a phase --- delay delay delay.......for an other day....

[bina]

tried to edit but a no go...

went to check prices; i've actually never checked for flights on internet before im not very savvy about this stuff:

did find flights, geez 25000 was cheap compared to what i found.... checked out insurance and was annoyed to find that although i found flight and insurance info from thailand, it mostly was in english with no way to flip to thai; and thai is what i need (to show the other half that it is, jingjing, 30000 baht ) ....

at any rate, he has informed me that this is to happen in a year or two... well thats a relief... since we dont even know what will happen tomorrow......

anyway, never mind his mother cause she is pretty similar to some of the little old morrocan and yemenite grandmas from the moshavim near by, but having his father walking around half naked with all his tattooes, in the middle of the kibbutz, i would feel like i was constantly presenting a national geographic series... i personally dont care but just thinking about worrying about where they went, what are they doing, and i really dont think they would be comfortable in a second story apartment as his father sleeps out in the open most of the time, in the forests.. .. we dont even have mosquitoes...

so now we are back to planning purchasing some land in the muubaan... a far better choice in my eyes.

bina